Duffy;
I have a military 96 mauser that I have sporterized: barrel cut & crowned at 22 inches, bolt handle bent for scope mounting, Winchester style saftey, and synthetic stock. I have used it to take only one deer..a mulie doe that I shot at 275 yards. My gun likes the Hornady 129 grain soft point, and the Sierra 100 grain HP. The 129 grain is my deer/antelope/boar load, and the 100 grain load is my varmint load. It will shoot sub MOA with both bullets and the right powder combination. While I have experimented with 140 grain bullets, and I get fair (MOA or slightly worse) with this wieght, the gun really likes the 129 grain bullets. I had a military version several years ago that I sold and could kick myself for selling....it shot a group that I could cover with a dime at 100 yards with military open sights; problem was, it was about 12 inches high at 100 yards, and I couldn't find any ammo for it (only Norma was making factory sp ammo for it at that time, at greater than $1/rd...so I sold it).
I don't plan on making the same mistake twice